Game industry business news

First the BBFC bans the game. Then it gets a release in the US. Then the Video Appeals Committee upholds Rockstar’s appeal and we’re all left wondering what happens now. Well, what happens now is: nothing. We’ll have another few months of fannying around and then maybe – just maybe …

Following their successful launch in Japan, Sony has confirmed that it will be rolling out PlayStation Network cards early next year in North America. In the same way that Wii or Xbox 360 owners are able to top up their online credit either through their console’s dashboard or via a …

The boss of Sony America, Jack Tretton, has claimed in an interview with IGN that developers are increasingly adopting PS3 as their lead platform and then ‘porting down’ the titles from Sony’s machine to rival platforms. "We are now starting to see developers creating games on PS3 and then porting …

Over 90,000 consumers have felt the power of PlayStation 3 during a tour which has taken in countless shopping centres, universities, train stations and – most spectacularly – the giant O2 Arena in London. Sony’s marketing team has promoted the console across the UK for several months, culminating in a …

UK publisher Mastertronic is set to move offices across London tomorrow, from its current base in Southwark to trendy Farringdon in EC1. The business will continue to operate with its full range of labels, which include Sold Out, MAD, PC Gamer Presents, MAD4Games, Blast and Just Flight. Mastertronic chairman Andy …

Following the success of the inaugural PES/MCV Industry Cup in October, the PES/MCV Industry Rankings league is about to get underway – with an official date also named for the first offline tournament. PES Rankings is already a hugely successful competitive online community, with over 40,000 players. Konami has now …

As reported by MCV last week , the rumours of a Command & Conquer themed first person shooter have proved correct, with EA’s confirmation that Tiberium will be released on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC in Autumn 2008. Seemingly a blend between the series’ traditional RTS formula and first person …

Those who have been searching for an elusive Wii console in the run-up to Christmas will be all too familiar with some retailer’s tendency to only sell the console in expensive bundles, but Nintendo of America’s president Reggie Fils-Aime has hit out at the practise. Speaking to news agency Reuters, …

It seems that the only thing pegging back Nintendo’s remarkable sales achievements at the moment is its ability to get hardware on the High Street – but that hasn’t stopped the DS Lite smashing the UK weekly hardware sales record that it had set only the week before. in the …

With only a week to go until the official UK Christmas number one video game champion is crowned, Sega’s Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games maintains its place at the top of the ChartTrack All Formats Top 40 – but its rivals aren’t giving up the fight. Only 2,500 …